Every Me and Every You
by PoisonComeUndone
Summary: Batman/Joker. Slash. Sometimes, hate and love really are closer than we think, and hate and need are even closer than that. Obsession might not be healthy, but since when have either of them ever been healthy?
1. Chapter 1

Something I thought I would never write…some Batman/Joker. Inspired by one of my FAVORITE songs that I never realized would fit them so well until last night. Every You Every Me by Placebo(who are an amazing band in general, btw. ^^) Enjoy!

_Sucker love is heaven sent _

_You pucker up_

_Our passion spent_

_My heart's a tart_

_Your body's rent_

_My body's broken_

_Yours is bent_

_Carve your name into my arm_

_Instead of stressed I lie here charmed_

_Cause there's nothing else to do_

_Every me and every you_

_-Every You Every Me, Placebo_

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It had been three days since his most recent escape, and Bruce really hadn't expected to find him this quickly. It was as yet undetermined how he had escaped his cell, but he killed two guards at Arkham with an electrical cord, had barely taken the time to hack the beginnings of smiles into their cheeks with the keys he hadn't needed.

And now, apparently, he was at this dingy hotel in one of the worst parts of Gotham. Batman had come alone by necessity, though even if he had still had the police at his disposal he would have been unwilling to bring them tonight. After everything that had happened first to Rachel and then to Harvey, this was personal.

Since he had only so recently returned the guard had been minimal and easily dealt with, and now he faced only the Joker himself. Easy enough, if only he was ready to face him. The anger, the fury he felt around this man was nothing like anything he had ever experienced. He had never wanted more to hurt someone, and that fact disturbed him almost as much as the fact that he was so desperate to keep him alive. Even the thought of this madman dying at someone else's hands was unendurable, and he certainly could never do it himself. Being around him was the hardest thing, but he had to face him. Tonight, while he knew where he was, while he was accessible.

Without giving himself a chance to think his way out of it, he crashed through the window and into the hotel room, falling into an easy roll that brought him right up behind the Joker. He gripped him hard, one hand on his hip another on his shoulder as he threw him violently into the chest of drawers against the righthand wall.

His head hit the corner and he fell to the floor, his body curling in, his hand curving up to press to the side of his head even as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. "Just couldn't…couldn't stay away could you?"

"Shut up." The laughter was ridiculous, insane. A hundred times more annoying that it should have been, but somehow it just got under his skin. He kicked him hard in the ribs, growling when the madman made no attempt to even get up much less fight back. Beating on him was always like this, and it always made him angrier. He growled louder, pulled him up by his collar to throw him against the wall, let him slide down.

The Joker chuckled, though he was panting. "If we're going to play this game, you could at least tell me why we're playing. Though, I'm honored that you would start, I usually have to-" his words cut abruptly into a mix of a laugh and a gasp as Batman's boot found his ribs again.

"I'm not playing." One rule. He only had one rule, but he used to have more. Things like 'no beating a defenseless man'. The Joker would never know it, but he had made him break that one. It would please the son of a bitch too damn much to know that, and he would never let him hear it. Still, he knew later he would look back on his behavior and be appalled. He always was. At the moment, however…

"See, I really worry about you, Batsy. You're in such denial. See _me_," he was wheezing a little, his breath coming only with difficulty. "I accept it. You and me, that is. But you, you have to fight it, act like we're not supposed to be all mixed up in each others lives." His hands came away from holding his chest, gestured wildly in the air as he talked. "I know what we are, what we have to be. You, you just keep trying to fight it."

"You're out of your mind."

He laughed uncontrollably, sliding down almost gracefully to lie sideways on the floor. "But not out of yours, and that's what counts!"

Batman gritted his teeth, growled, fought for the focus of why he had come here. "You didn't win. I'll never let you win. Harvey still won, even after what you did to him." Somehow, he had had to let him know just how fully he had failed. Even if he knew he had heard the news, he had to deliver this in person.

The Joker's laugh eased up, trailed into words. "See, I find it funny that you worry so much about how I screwed with your little white knight's head. Because really, what I've done to him is _nothing_ compared to what I'm still doing to you. He was movable. You, you're not and that's why you're so much more fun, why you're the one I want to keep. We can keep playing, you and I, for the rest of our lives, and I will never be you, and you will never be me. We'll be equally mad in different directions." He laughed harder, rolled onto his back and let his head lay against the floor, his eyes closing. "Forces of nature, both of us."

And it was _this_ that he hated the most, this…_insane_ notion that they were somehow meant for each other, that this game had been destined. It was that thought that infuriated him more than any other, that thought that he couldn't bear. Because if he thought about it for too long when he was alone, he thought of things he could never allow himself to think. With a furious growl he gripped the Joker's collar, lifted him up to slug him hard once, twice, before throwing him in the opposite direction to land hard on the dirty carpet. The laughter was driving him mad. "Get up! Get up you fool and defend yourself?"

"Why? You'll continue to beat me anyway, this way, I expend less effort."

Red hot rage took over and he tackled him, landed on top of him, fists crashing repeatedly into that laughing face. The laughter stopped but he couldn't, could barely breath until he finally forced himself to slow, taking in at least three bleeding wounds on the Joker's cheeks. He stopped, arms trembling with rage, panting with exertion.

For a moment he was catching his breath, but a soft giggle escaped the ruby red lips before him. "I really do rile you up, don't I? That's alright, I like a man with fight." His eyes lit up, dancing. "Didn't we already talk about this? Just before you showed your very poor understanding of the English language?"

Rachel. The pain that always accompanied thoughts of her rose fresh in his chest, and he used the anger to fight it. He shoved the Joker harder into the ground, opening his mouth to tell the fool to shut up. He didn't manage it, though. Shocking him, the Joker gasped, his head falling back, his body arching into the one that pressed him into the floor. Their positions had shifted, and Batman could feel it clearly now, the Joker's unmistakable arousal pressing against his groin. When he recovered from the shock, he growled, backhanded him hard and sat up, pushing himself away.

The Joker laughed a little weaker than usually, those disconcerting eyes boring into them. "I tell you and I tell you things and you just keep ignoring me. If I wasn't so amused, I'd be offended. I've told you I like a man with fight, and I've told you I always want to keep you around. How much more plain do I have to be? Does being a bat effect your thinking capacity as well? What sort of relationships do they have, I mean, I've never researched it but I'm sure I could-" Batman snarled, punched him harder than before. "Ow! Well that wasn't very nice." He rolled over, slunk across the floor carefully until he had closed the small distance between them. He was laying on the floor still, his head between the other man's feet where he sat with his knees pulled up, leaning against the bed and watching the Joker warily.

He was moving so slowly, the Joker was. _Bruce_ was thinking again, the man inside the mask, and he knew he should leave, now. The darker side of him told him to hit him again, but he was somehow too mesmerized to lift his arm. Apparently, too mesmerized to do anything at all. "Stop." His voice was still Batman's still low and gravelly, still harsh, but he could hear the undercurrent there, and he knew he would be a fool to think the Joker wouldn't. Fear.

"Come on, can't you trust me? I've only ever told you the truth, Batsy." The Joker's hand slid across the carpet, slow as a snake. "And you know I'm right. You know we need each other. So why can't we…" His hand closed the final distance, pressing against the armor over his groin. "Enjoy ourselves?"

Batman's hand shot out and closed around his wrist, but froze before he could push the hand away. He was disturbed, more disturbed than he could have ever explained at what he was feeling at the moment. He couldn't feel the heat of his hand through the armor, only the pressure, but his body was responding, he could feel it. He growled. "Stop. It."

"Mmm, but you don't want me to." Sinsiously he slid closer, his hand pressing harder. "This is another one of those things about appearances, about how you want the world to see you. You _want_ so badly to be one of them that you keep trying to pretend that you are, even keep telling yourself that you are but you're not, and you're only hurting yourself." He licked his red lips, threw himself up and forward, his lips pressing firmly and hungrily against Batman's.

He bit down on the Joker's bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, his hands coming up to grip the slender man's waist, ready to push him away. But the other man's tongue was licking insistently against his lips, and his body reacted before his mind could. His mouth opened to the intrusion, his hands tightening in a crushing grip as he brought their hips together, pushed off from the bed to flip them over and out onto the floor. He landed hard on top of the Joker, felt the breath whoosh out of lungs. Still, they didn't break the kiss. He delved deep into the other man's mouth, tasted paint and felt the outlines of the scars inside his cheeks. When their tongues tangled together the Joker moaned, his hips rising up to rub insistently against him.

Bruce could feel the war inside him again. Lust vs. rationality vs. Batman's anger. For the moment, Batman won. He bit him again, pulled back to punch him, though not as hard as before. The Joker giggled, shook his head slowly. "Ah, Batsy, you never disappoint. You never do what I expect. I love it."

"Shut up." He punched him again, though it was more of a warning motion than an actual blow. It was all happening to fast for him to make sense of it, and he knew he didn't have time to think. This was going to happen, and he couldn't rationalize it, and he couldn't explain it, and it would screw with him later, but there was no stopping that now. He shoved himself back and started to take off his armor, quick and violent, cutting himself with one of the pieces in his haste. He could hear the Joker's breathing grow ragged as he exposed more skin, could hear the low hum of appreciation when he was finally naked, his arousal obvious.

Joker opened lips slowly, clearly on the point of speaking but he didn't let him, threw himself back on top of him and claimed his lips forcefully, colliding, feeling the paint smear against his chin. The cowl alone he had left on. That he had at least had presence of mind to remember. His hands worked between them, roughly unbuttoning the vest and shirt that kept their bare chests from meeting. He didn't take them off, merely shoved them aside, growling into the Joker's mouth as he pressed into him, hips grinding together. Tearing his lips away he brought them down, biting down hard on the other man's collarbone.

The Joker cried out in a mix of pain and pleasure, and Bruce knew that those two sensations had long ago become irrevocably intertwined for him. He released him, more pleased than he should have been to see blood welling up from the bite. "You like that?" He ground their hips together on every word, his erection throbbing, rubbing against the fabric between them. The noise he made in response was almost a whimper, his neck arching along with his hips in wordless plea for more of both. Batman growled, obliged by biting into his pale neck as he shoved his pants down roughly, gripping the erection beneath in his hand. He pumped him hard, sucked on his neck in rhythm.

Soft cries intermixed with laughter, and somehow it didn't sound as out of place as it would have with anyone else. It was right for him, if anything could be. He was close to coming Batman knew, could feel it in the way his cock pulsed in his hand, the way his body writhed below him. But it couldn't be like this, no. Not with him jerking him off, no, this seemed too almost human. With a growl he pushed himself away, jerked hard on the Joker's arm and flipped him over, heard him hiss as his erection was pressed between his stomach and the carpet.

His cock twitched as he took in the site before him, the Joker on his stomach, pants pulled down just far enough to expose his pale ass. This madman, the mass murderer Gotham feared was at his mercy, panting, all but begging to be taken. And he could have never denied to himself how much it aroused him. His hand pressed between those sharply defined shoulder blades, pushing him down. "This is going to hurt like hell."

A fractured chuckled slipped out between pants. "And you think I'm going to tell you to stop now? Think I'm afraid of a little pain? Think I'm-" He took that opportunity to thrust inside him, not bothering with any preparation beyond spreading the liquid leaking from his cock. The Joker cried out in pain, and for a moment, he was wholly Bruce again, all traces of anger left him. The scream turned into soft panting moans, quickly. "Ooo, Batsy…you're bigger than I thought." The heat of being sheathed inside him was overwhelming, especially after so long without this. He pulled out and thrust in hard, listened to the noises coming from the man below him. How long had it been? He had never been with Rachel. Not once. And he had been with no one while he had hoped for her. He was nothing if not loyal. The girls were ruses, toys to catch Rachel's eyes, to infuriate her. How long since his last real lay? Ages. Far, far too long, and he was coming before he wanted to, before he had had enough. He snarled as he came, bit into the Joker's shoulder and humped him until he was spent.

Finished, he pulled out quickly, idly noticing the marks of blood on pale skin. Panting, he pulled back, stood and began pulling on his armor without a word. it was a moment before the Joker rolled over, those strange eyes blazing. "Going to leave me like this?" He gestured down, at the erection still very present between his legs. "No wonder you never could keep a woman." Through the teasing, his breath still came uneven, his voice low with arousal, his eyes burning, almost pleading.

Batman pulled his cape into place, straightened it. "I never said I'd do anything for you." Before the Joker could speak again, he was gone.

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He gave a soft growl of frustration, giggling as he realized the sound was nothing like the one that the bat could make, the one that came form so deep his chest. Feral, almost. He shifted on the floor, hissed at the way his ass ached when he did. He'd be walking badly for days, and he giggled again. He could tell them all he'd been fucked by the Batman, and no one would believe him. Not that he wanted them too. Then, they might get jealous, and he couldn't have that.

His groin was throbbing, and he whined at the memory of the way Batman's hand had felt on his shaft, sure and warm and better than even he could have imagined. So, what were his options? He could find a lookalike, there were plenty on the streets, even now that the Batman was a criminal too. He could fuck him, strap him to bed and cut a smile into his lips, see if the blood made it any better when he stuck his cock down his throat. Still, that wouldn't have the same effect, and it would take time.

He sighed in defeat, slid his hand down his chest to clasp his erection. He pumped himself slowly at first, picturing that _beautiful_ body he had, finally, had a chance to gaze at, if only for a moment. He was desperately close. With his other hand, he found the bite mark on his neck, felt the angry bruise growing there.

He came when he dug his nails into it.

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I had intended this as a oneshot, and I was going to stop when Batman left. After I started it though, I just couldn't, and I have this idea of making it an ongoing story, of actually getting these two together. I think it could happen. I mean, I never expected to like them as a couple, but the more I thought about it last night, the more I kept thinking that really, Batman could _only_ be with him.

Anyway, let me know what you think, if you think this should continue or not. : )


	2. Chapter 2

_Sweat it out, _

_Shut your mouth,  
Free love on the streets, but  
In the alley it ain't that cheap, now_

_I don't care what you think,  
As long as it's about me  
The best of us can find happiness in misery_

_-I Don't Care, Fall Out Boy_

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When he woke up, there was a moment before Bruce Wayne remembered everything. Alfred had come in and opened the blinds, and the sun hitting his eyelids was slowly forcing him awake. He groaned, rolled his shoulders and turned over onto his back, letting his eyes flutter open to stare at the ceiling.

It was then that he remembered, and he sat up so fast that he would have probably been dizzy, if he had had room in his head to spare for thinking about something that trivial. _What have I done?_ He rubbed his temples hard, lost in the images that kept running through his mind. He had…he had actually…they had actually….

"Master Wayne?"

Bruce jerked, snapped his head up to see Alfred in the door. "I'm fine, Alfred."

Alfred's eyebrows rose slightly, and Bruce realized too late that he had been too quick to say he was fine. "Right. You won't be going into the office today, then?"

He knew him far, far too well. "…no. No, I won't."

Alfred nodded, mercifully left without questioning him further. He knew when to question and when to wait, and now…well, Bruce certainly wasn't ready to talk about this. Whatever it had been.

What the hell had he been _thinking_? That was just it, really…he seemed to lose a lot of process of thought around the Joker and just _do_, running on raw action and emotion. That had to have been what got him in trouble. He was furious, vulnerable… He had snapped, that had to have been it. Had to have been. And the Joker was so damn good at screwing with people's minds that he had been able to push the rage over into lust.

Bruce swallowed hard, forced back a startlingly clear memory. He felt far too little revulsion at the thought, could remember far too well how much it had turned him on to hear the noises Joker had made beneath him, the way he had responded to the feel of teeth against his neck. He pushed the thoughts away, shook his head slowly, trying to clear it. This had happened once, and he would have to accept that. But it had happened only once, and it would never happen again. Never.

He would do his best to forget it, and he hoped desperately that Joker wouldn't bring it up again.

He laughed a little at the thought, darkly. Joker not bring something like _that_ up again? _Yeah. Right._ He couldn't help but have the sickening feeling that by making one decision in haste he had thrown gasoline onto a fire he had never given any thought to. Now, he knew something was going to burn, something was going to change.

He was more afraid than he cared to admit to find out what it was going to be.

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When a week had gone by after the incident, he knew Joker's silence was too good to be true. He was too quiet, Gotham's streets too undisturbed by anything but petty crime. Batman was searching every night, scouring the city even as he avoided the cops, but he had found no traces of Joker's plans, whatever they were.

He was ready though, on edge, and when the news anchor said they had just received a new video from the Joker, he was not in the least surprised. He was eating dinner with Alfred, and crossed the room to the TV wordlessly, absently reaching out to turn the volume up.

"We received the tape only moments ago, with a note indicating it contains an important message to the Batman." The picture switched then from the newsroom to an alley somewhere in the Narrows, the camera wheeling sickeningly before focusing on a dingy door.

"Behind Door #1 we have…" A purple gloved hand stretched out to shove the door open wide enough to hit the wall with a bang, revealing a bare concrete room, ten cops bound with duct tape in a circle in the middle of the room. "Ta da!" The Joker's hand gestured at them grandly, his cackle echoing in the room. "And…" The camera wheeled around, scanning the wall to his right. "Looks like there's not a Door #2 after all, so this is our _ooonly_ option." He jostled the camera in his hand until it faced him, holding it out at arm's length. "Just wanted to let you all know I'm back in the _game_, though tonight, I'm not asking you all to play…just the Batman." His grin was wicked, mischievous. "Now, Bats, you'll have, ah, until 9 to find me…after that, I'll be killing one of them-" He turned the camera on the policemen again, "Every…oh, 30 minutes, until you show up. And don't think you can wait until they're all dead…I can just go get more!" He broke into peals of laughter then, and the camera cut off suddenly, the picture returning to the newsroom.

Bruce swore low under his breath, switched off the TV with one angry motion. "Time, Alfred?"

"8:54, sir."

Anger swelled in his chest, even as his mind began to calculate. Even knowing he was somewhere in the Narrows, he'd never be able to suit up, get out and find him in 6 minutes…no matter what, he was going to lose the first cop. But as long as he hurried, no more than one needed to die. He had a nauseating feeling he knew what the Joker wanted, what he intended by inviting him to 'play'…

Still, he had to take the bait. Just as the Joker had to have known he would. "Alfred, get the car ready."

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As he drove, he tried to tell himself that he had to be crazy, that the Joker couldn't be after what he had feared. When that line of reasoning wasn't strong enough for him, he tried to stop thinking entirely.

When he reached the back alleys of the Narrows he left the car to wait for him and took off on foot, scanning desperately for something familiar from the video. He could remember the look the wall had had, the faded remains of silver graffiti on the dingy maroon door.

Luckily, it wasn't long before he found it, but just as his hand shot out to grab the handle another hand shot out to catch his wrist.

"I just _knew_ you'd come, Batsy!"

Growling with rage, he twisted his hand to lock his fingers around the Joker's wrist, pulling back with his left arm and landing a hard hook against Joker's face. Paint and blood came off on his gauntlet and he growled again, lunged forward to grab the smaller man by the collar. "You're going back to Arkham."

Joker scowled, a look that was disturbingly almost childish. "No. I'm not. _I won't_." His words turned menacing, strong, and it was enough to show just a hint of the darkness he had inside. The moment passed quickly, however. "Besides, you don't want that anyway. What would you do without me here, hmm? That'd be no fun for either of us."

Batman's lips twisted into a snarl, eyes burning as he stared the other man down. "I've told you, I'm not playing your games."

"Oh but you are, and you want to." He struggled against Batman's hold, laughing when the other man pressed him into the wall to hold him better. "I _know_ you want to, Batsy." He twisted, lifted his legs up to wrap them around Batman's waist, locking him in close. "You want this."

He was seeing red, anger flaring in his chest, but even so…

Bruce swallowed hard, fought to control his increasingly rapid breath. The feel of Joker pressed against him like this had him hard, he couldn't deny it. He shook Joker hard by his collar, snapped his head back to slam against the brick wall. "You don't know anything about me."

Joker's laugh rang far too true, his green eyes prickling with far too much calm. "I know more than any of the ones that claim to understand you. They only see what they want to see. I see what's there." He licked his lips, ran his tongue along his scars. "So tell me, Bat, what are you hiding? What don't you want them to see? That maybe you're not the little hero they think you-"

He was cut off sharply, Batman whirling to throw him to the ground, growling as Joker's head hit wet pavement. From the light of flickering streetlamps he could see blood seep into the pool of water but any guilt he should have felt remained buried under rage. "You're going back." He would cuff him, release the cops and then deliver Joker to Gordon. He would do it, and he would refuse to think about what he had done before, about what he had felt just now, what he was still feeling, looking at the madman lying at his feet.

"Take me back, and every man in that room dies…and others." His voice was lower, more dangerous, more serious.

Batman took one step closer, eyes narrowed. "How." It wasn't even a question, it was far more flat, unsurprised. No matter what he said, Joker always had a backup plan.

"I have…a bit of an insurance policy. My men will keep targeting cops until I tell them this game is over." He pushed himself up, rising far more fluidly than someone who was beat as often as he was should have been able. "And this game isn't over until I get what I want." Closer. Batman had only a moment to realize that this was just like before, that he was mesmerized, unable to look away. "And if you think for a minute that Arkham can ever hold me…" He laughed, dark and truly amused. "Then _you're_ crazier than _I_ am."

They lunged forward at the same time, clashing angrily, Batman's hands locking around Joker wrists even as Joker's head shot forward, lips colliding in a violent kiss. Their teeth clanked together before Joker's came down hard on his lip, drawing blood. His tongue shot out and between those lips, gathering a swipe of blood into his own mouth and humming in pleasure at the taste of it. "_So_ good, Bat. This is more like it."

Joker panted the words against his cheek, his body twisting to press closer. Without realizing it, Batman had kept driving him back and they were against the wall again. Keeping his wrists in one hand, Batman found the cuffs on his belt and latched them on, pressed him harder into the wall. Joker hissed, relishing the pain of metal cutting into his skin and the pleasure of being pressed against the dark knight.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it? Why you wanted me, from the beginning?" He pressed harder into him, reached down with one gloved hand to feel the prominent bulge in the Joker's pants. He moaned, pressed eagerly into the hand against him. At the sound, Batman could feel his own arousal throb, and he hated himself for it. He shoved his arm against the clown's neck, fury rising at the euphoric look that remained on his face even as blood began to seep from a point on his throat where a spike on the armor was digging in. He pushed harder, drew a little more blood and another moan. "You're a _freak_." He spat the word out, dripping with disgust.

"hehehe, I, ah, maybe I _am, _but _you_, you get off on this too, so that means I was right." His eyes were half lidded in pleasure, emerald green still sparkling in the low light. "I'm right. So just do it. Hurt me, do it however you want, but you want it, just do it." He pressed his body against the armor, frustrated by the lack of body heat. "_Do_ it."

The ache in his cock was painful, and Bruce let go of the last piece of resistance he had. At this point, he told himself, it didn't matter. He pulled off just enough of his armor to free his cock, shoved Joker's pants down to let their flesh meet. They both gasped at the sensation, hips taking up a rhythm on their own. Batman grabbed the back of his neck, kissed him roughly enough to start his lip bleeding again.

Joker moaned into the kiss, opened his mouth to let the other man intrude as much as he wanted. It was messy and disorganized, teeth still occasionally nipping, blood smearing across their lips and cheeks, mixing with saliva and Joker's paint. They were both desperate, shaking with need and Batman pressed his arm against Joker's chest to hold him still against the wall as he thrust against him mindlessly, grunting in pleasure. Joker came first, gasping and arching into both the arm against his chest and the other man's hips. Bruce finished soon after, kissing Joker as he did to muffle the cry that threatened to break free.

He pulled back panting, muscles quivering. He felt almost high with relief, warmth flowing in his veins. Absently, he realized that getting off was never this good, not with anyone, only this time, and the one before…

He pushed roughly back from Joker and the alley wall, disturbed by his own thoughts. He collected the armor easily, fitted the missing mesh and missing pieces back in place. He heard the sound of Joker sliding bonelessly to the ground, and he looked up to see him softly panting, grinning, slumped against the brick wall. Blood colored his shirt at spaced intervals across his chest, and it took Bruce a moment to recognize the wounds as his own work, punctures made from the arm spikes digging in to his chest.

Regret stabbed sharply in his chest but he shoved it away, reached out to grab the man's bloodied shirt and jerk him to his feet, helping hold him up with one hand as he reached down to pull his pants up. Joker leaned into him, laughing softly and resting his chin on his shoulder, looking up at him. "See? Told you you wanted it."

Batman shook him, spun him to grab the handcuffs to drag him by. "Come on. I'm letting these men go and then you're going back where you belong."

Something close to fear sparked in the clowns eyes, and for the first time that night he really put up a fight, kicking and flailing. It was unexpected but Batman's reflexes were fast enough that that didn't matter, and he pulled him closer, restraining him. No matter how much he hated the man, seeing him so obviously frightened rattled him. It was such a normal emotion, far too human for this…monster. Still, the need to explain himself was stronger than it should have been. He tightened his grip on the mans arms, felt the slick texture of the blood from where the cuffs had dug into his wrists. "What did you think I was going to do? Let you go?"

"Didn't take me back last time you saw me, did you?"

No, he hadn't. Last time, he had been too shocked at his own actions, too dazed to think of anything but what he had done.

"And you know as well as I do that no matter what I tell you the plans were," He paused to lick his lips, turned to fix Batman squarely in his gaze. "You could have taken my men down. I just have to give you the illusion of having no choice to make you let go of whatever it is you think you're holding onto. Is it dignity? Is it what I am what I am, or is it what I've done to your precious city? _Or_…" His eyes narrowed, lips curving into a frightening smile. "Is it what I did to _her_, to your little-" He gasped as a Kevlar encased fist slammed into his gut, doubling him over. "Heh, heh, so is that it, or, heh, did I just hit a _nerve_, hm?"

Batman jerked the door open, fought another burst of anger and revulsion as he stepped over the body of the first cop and the corresponding pool of blood on the floor. He threw the Joker forcibly to the floor and bent to cut the other men free, doing his best to ignore the soft laughter behind him.

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Bruce sat at his computer terminal, thumb absently tracing over the cut on his lip as he read the last message on his phone, one from Gordon.

**Found him. Thanks.**

It was good news, it meant Joker was on his way back to being locked up, even if it was only a temporary solution. Of course it was good news, so why wasn't he pleased?

"You know, you I really should have enjoyed all the time you spent at home as a boy more than I did. I suppose I never thought it would be the most I would ever see of you."

He looked up, turned his chair to see Alfred coming toward him. "Hey, Alfred. Sorry." He sighed, rolled his shoulders as he stood from the chair. "I got him back to Gordon, I was just…thinking." He knew if anyone would catch his mood, his hesitation, Alfred would and he wasn't at all surprised to see the concern in the older man's eyes. "Arkham can't hold him."

"Master Wayne, from what I know of this man, I'm not sure anything could hold him."

Bruce shook his head, thinking again. "Not against his will, no. He can't be controlled, he can't be altered, he's…" His voice dropped, remembering the Joker's words to him the night Harvey had died. "He's a force of nature. Unstoppable. I can only hope to…manage his damage." Frustrated, he swiped his hand across the desk, knocking the phone and a glass to the floor with a clatter and the sound of breaking glass. Alfred was far too used to him by now to be shocked, and he stepped in closer, leaned against the counter. He said nothing, waited patiently for Bruce to finish. "As long as he's here, I'm going to have to deal with him."

"And if you kill him, you'll eliminate the problem, is that what you're thinking?"

It was exactly what he had, against his will, been wondering. But that would be something else, that would be breaking his rule. Not only that, he would be playing right into the mad man's hands.

_Tonight you're gonna break your one rule…_

He jerked at the memory, shook his head. "Even if I want it, even if it would save us, I can't. I just can't." The thought filled him with an impossible mixture of longing and revulsion. "Every time I've come close to I've realized that I can't, I never could. And now…" Now, there were things going on he didn't even have the words to explain, and he wished he hadn't let himself start rambling to Alfred. Under no circumstances could his butler ever know what he had done. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, tried desperately to clear his jumbled thoughts.

Alfred's hand come down on his shoulder gently, the touch familiar and welcome. "Master Wayne, let's go back home, hm? Get some sleep?"

He took a deep breath, nodded slowly. "Yeah. Alright."

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_They were in his bed, the Joker beneath him with his legs spread wide, their hands locked together, lips meeting in a passionate kiss. He was inside Joker, thrusting steadily, lips traveling down to suck on his lover's neck, feeling the vibrations as he screamed Bruce's name…_

Bruce woke with a start, bolting upright in bed. His body was covered in a sheen of sweat, sheet sticking to his skin. He was painfully hard and his breath came ragged, his chest heaving with it. _Goddamn him!_

"I don't want this." He muttered it to himself low, sounding ridiculous when he knew damn well how turned on he was, how much his body desperately _did_ want it. "I _don't_."

Realizing sleep was a lost cause, he threw the sheets off and got out of bed.

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No matter how well he did or didn't plan things, this definitely wasn't where he had intended to end up. Joker glared at the bars of his holding cell in MCU, ignoring the inane ramblings of the other inmates. No one was fool enough to approach him directly, as it should be. Weapons or not, they would have been easy to deal with.

The problem here wasn't where it was, it was where he was headed. He had apparently miscalculated. The Bat was a little deeper in denial than even he had anticipated. _Deeper in madness, maybe. He's the one that needs locking up, but then, neither of us would be having any fun…_

His face twisted into a grimace as he thought of the cells in Arkham, of the therapist they made him see that kept asking him about his parents, his childhood, his relationships. He told her different stories every time, laughing when the woman had finally snapped and yelled at him that she knew he hadn't just appeared out of thin air.

No, he hadn't, but that didn't mean he knew where he came from, either. Or that he would tell her, even if he did…but he didn't. Not that it mattered.

_More fun not knowing; I'm whoever I want to be, no conceptions, no inhibitions, not like the Bat, he's got too much he thinks he should be doing to figure out what he __**really**__ should be doing, heh._

He ran his tongue across his scars, shifted in his seat. The punctures in his chest protested the motion, and he felt heat stir in his body at the memories the pain invoked. Spikes in his chest, the only body he had ever _really_ wanted thrusting against him…

_Mm, oh yes, he __**wants**__ it. If only he knew it…well, I've got time. Lots and lots of time…_ He laughed at the realization, an image flashing into his head of the scene from hours before, the anger he had seen in the Batman's eyes when he had thrown him to the ground.

"Hey, clown, cut it out!" A young cop had leapt to his feet and stood at the bars, shaking with rage as he glared into the darkness.

"Ernie, leave him alone!" The guard at the desk, feet propped up, watching dispassionately. He was smarter, old enough to know it didn't do any good to be angry.

But oooh how he loved the ones that got angry. Without them, he'd have a lot less fun. He grinned wider, rose to slink across the floor, closer to the bars. "Why? Where's your sense of _humor_, boy?" Ernie said nothing, but he stood his ground, even as Joker drew closer. _Not very smart, this one, not all there…this might not be…no, it'll still be fun, heh. _"Did you know him, hmm? What's his name, from my little game tonight?"

"Michael!" He screamed the name, face red with anger. "His name was Michael you Goddamned devil!"

"Ernie, don't-" Whatever he had been about to say cut off into a wordless scream of rage as Joker closed the last few remaining inches, shoved his hands through the opening and wrenched Ernie's head to the right hard, effectively snapping his neck.

He laughed as the other guard screamed, laughed as Ernie's body fell limply to the floor, laughed as reinforcements burst through the door, fury in their eyes.

When they came to cuff him and take him to a more isolated cell until he could be driven to Arkham in the morning, he was still laughing.

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Wow it took me a lot longer than I was hoping to get this together, but chapter 2, finally! : )

I'm working on something for the Team Knight/Team Anarchy challenge over at Freak Like Me, so I'll have that up in the next few days, but then I'll be working on more of this. :D

Thanks to everyone so much for the amazing reviews! 3


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